Sunday, January 30, 2011

Week 5: Favorite Food. What was your favorite food from childhood? If it was homemade, who made it? What was in this dish, and why was it your favorite? What is your favorite dish now?

When I was a little girl, even to now, my mama would make catfish and hush puppies. I LOVE my mama's catfish. She didn't do anything special with it, but she made it perfectly. Even now when I go home to visit, I beg her to make it. It's comfort food for me.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Through this journey of mine to climb the family tree, I have met so many wonderful people. People who see my family tree at ancestry.com and want to share information/photos/documents etc. It's been a wonderful experience sharing what I have with others.

Recently, I received an email from a lady who is researching the Wooten line for her cousin. She saw a photo that I have on my ancestry.com account of my ggg grandmother and realized that her cousin was also a descendant. We've been in touch and I'm so excited to share what I have with her. You see, when my great grandma passed away in 1989, my uncle had planned to throw a big box of "junk" away. But, seeing that it had documents and such in it, my aunt suggested that he give it to me. It was a treasure trove of genealogical information!! I can't believe he wanted to throw it away.

In the box contained letters that my ggg grandparents wrote to each other while he was serving in the civil war. It contained their marriage license, and two telegrams informing her of his passing. The photo that I mentioned above was also in that box along with some other things including his hat from the civil war. I guess it's true that one man's junk is another woman's treasure. LOL

Anyway, my next few days will consist of scanning the already printed letters (I printed them off once so as not to handle the originals too much) and sending them to her.

So, my advice would be this - never be too shy to reach out to someone while researching your genealogy. You never know who you'll meet or what you'll come across.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Week 4: Home. Describe the house in which you grew up. Was it big or small? What made it unique? Is it still there today?

The very first house that I remember is one that we lived in out in the country. It was on a dirt road. Across the street and to the right of the house were woods that we used to live to explore in. In the back was a HUGE garden that my mom and dad planted vegetables in. If we were to walk up the road on the right about a half mile, we would get to our babysitters house. Her name was Janice and she lived there with her parents. Her daddy worked for the city and drove an orange truck, so whenever we saw an orange truck, we'd say, "There's Janice's daddy." If you were to walk up the road on the left, you would get to a big house that was owned by the man that owned our house. His name was Vernie. We lived there until I was seven and we moved to California. The one thing that I loved about that house was the long summer nights. We would lay out on the grass and catch fireflies. I loved it. That house burned down in the 80s, but it was rebuilt and is still there today.

When we lived in California, we lived in an apartment that my parents managed. We lived there a year, and then we moved back to Arkansas. We lived in a house that my great aunt owned. It was a two bedroom house, but my daddy enclosed the back porch to make another bedroom and it was mine. I loved it out there. But, my parents decided to move me in a room with my sister, and then give my brother the other room, so the back porch became their bedroom. That house is no longer there. They torn down the entire block to enlarge the army reserves location.

We later moved to Texas when my dad took a new job. We first lived in an apartment, and then moved to a house that was owned by a man in our church. We lived there until I graduated and moved to a neighboring town. That house has a lot of memories. We actually moved there my last month of high school and stayed there until my third child was born. It was a little three bedroom house and we loved it. I have a lot of memories in that house. That was the house where I planned my wedding. It's the house where I brought my children to come and visit their grandparents. It's the house that I lived in when I graduated high school as well as junior college. I will always love that little house.

That's about all the main houses that I lived in. Man, it was so much easier to be a child. I miss those carefree days.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Cars. What was your first car? Describe the make, model and color, but also any memories you have of the vehicle. You can also expand on this topic and describe the car(s) your parents drove and any childhood memories attached to it.

My first car was a Plymouth Volare station wagon that my parents let me use my junior year of high school and on into my first year of college. It was a yellowish tanny color and I hated that thing. LOL But, it was a car that I could drive and get around in and that was great for me. Once I went off to college in Idaho, my parents sold it to this jerky guy that kept wanting me to marry him. I had NO interest in him at all, but he thought it was kismet that he drove my car around. Yuck!

When I got home, my dad told me about a co-worker of his that was selling a used 1980 Toyota Corolla, and I bought it for $500. It was blue and got good gas mileage. I even drove it back to Idaho for my second year of college. I had that car until I got married in 1989. It was a good little car. We had some good times in that car.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Here is this week's prompt: Week 2: Winter. What was winter like where and when you grew up? Describe not only the climate, but how the season influenced your activities, food choices, etc.

When I was growing up, which was in Arkansas, we got occasional snow and it was a real treat when it happened. We experienced the seasons there and my favorite was fall. Spring was always so beautiful with the budding flowers and plants. It always smelled so nice because my mom had a lot of rose and mum bushes around the house. I loved seeing those flowers bloom every spring. Summer was a bit warm, but we usually spent those days fishing at the pond at my Grammy's house or swimming. I loved the summer food because it was fresh fruits and veggies. Yum! Then fall would come along and it would cool things down and the days got shorter. It was in the fall that my dad would go hunting and my two uncles would come from California to go with him. Winter meant colder days and break from school, which I loved. It also meant a trip to Grammy's house to spend Christmas with her.

I think of those days with much fondness and remember quite a few seasonal traditions we had. One such tradition was canning. When the summer started winding down, we would head over to my great Aunt Jo's house and can the fruits and veggies for the winter. My mom, Grammy, and Aunt Jo also made homemade jams, blackberry and apple butter mostly, and I loved spending time over there helping them with the canning.

I truly miss those days because they were simpler and families spent more time together than these days. Nowadays, it's all about Xbox, PS3, and DVRd television shows. I miss the days when families spent time together and actually communicated with each other. Now, when I want to talk to one of my kiddos, I have to text them.

Monday, January 3, 2011

I've decided to be a more active member of my Geneabloggers group. I haven't been too active in the past year, and I feel that needs to change. I mean, this blog is called The Scrappin Genealogist for heaven's sake. LOL

So, each week, I'll be doing the weekly prompt. Here's week #1's prompt: Did your family have any New Year’s traditions? How was the New Year celebrated during your childhood? Have you kept these traditions in the present day?!

When I was little, our biggest tradition was that we got to stay up until midnight to ring in the new year. We always had sparkling apple cider and lots of yummy snack type foods. In later years, it sort of became a tradition that the girls would dye their hair. You know, new year, new look. We would put the dye on our hair, eat the goodies, and sit and work on jigsaw puzzles. When I was in my early to mid teens, we even watched New Year's Rockin Eve with Dick Clark. I have a lot of fond memories of those days.

As for New Year's day, my mama always made a pot of black eyed peas, corncakes, fried potatoes, cabbage, and some sort of dessert. I think it's a southern thing to eat that kind of stuff and I always found it a good tradition. As for keeping up the tradition, well, I am ashamed to say that I haven't kept it up. Where we live, the local community always has a big New Year's eve party for the kids at the high school. My kids have gone every year since we've lived here. So, this year on New Year's Eve, I sat and watched Three Stooges with my hubby and he ended up falling asleep. We ate leftover tamales and enchiladas.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy 2011! I am SO glad that it's a new year starting a fresh clean slate! 2010 was a year of negativity and sadness for me and I for one am glad to bid her adieu!! Don't believe me, here's just a little of what happened in 2010:

1. I brought in 2010 with the death of my grandma. I was very close to her and that was a really crappy way to start off the new year.2. As a result of #1, we had to start purging my grandma's house. Saying good bye to some of her things, clothes, and furniture was very sad for me. 3. As a result of #1-2, I said good bye to Texarakana, probably never to go there again. Some of my most treasured childhood memories happened there.4. Driving away from my grammy's house that last time was EXTREMELY sad for me. Knowing that I would never go there again, and that I would never see her again in my life, made me feel completely lost.5. I had to say good bye to my uncle as we moved him to Oregon to live. 6. A friendship that I cherished ended because of gossiping and non-communication. Why can't people just confront others when they hear things are said?7. As a result of #5, I lost a job that I loved very much.8. My son started his last year of high school, which made each moment sad because I would think, "This is his last..." at home.9. My sweet uncle passed away after a short illness. 10. I lost several friends to death which made me feel empty.11. Some dear friends moved away.12. I was released from a calling that I truly enjoyed. But, the upside to that one is that the church did away with the calling, so I was the last activities committee chairman that my ward would ever see.

Now, with the new year comes new goals. I have a commitment to making 2011 the best that I can and I have a resolve to meet each and every one of these goals!! We'll see one year from now how well I did. Here's my goals for the new year:

1. scrap one layout a day2. print off my layouts monthly3. finish all my started crochet projects4. spend one hour a day on my genealogy (organizing, researching, preparing names etc.)5. read the Book of Mormon every day6. pray daily7. work out daily at WIMPS8. recommit to my Weight Watchers program9. read one new book a month10. write a weekly review in my journal (I didn't think I could commit to once a day)

And so far, 2011 is looking great!! I have taken photos of myself for my weight loss album. I have taken my measurements and have weighed and started a weight journal.

I also have news!! I made it onto Traci Reed's CT!! I can't tell you how excited I was when I got her email letting me know I was chosen! Woo hoo!!

I am a 49 yo scrapbooking, family tree climbing, crocheting, reading, mom of four kiddos, one grand princess, and five furbabies. I am currently working on my Masters degree in Special Education from UNLV.